Neo-Confucianism

Neo-Confucianism is a religion that originated in China in the 10th century CE, later spreading to Korea. It described new approaches to understanding classic Confucian texts that became the basic ruling philosophy of China from the Song dynasty period to the 20th century.

History
Neo-Confucianism originated with the Song dynasty, whose private academies became influential in culture and politics. New interpretations of Confucian teachings became so important and influential that neo-Confucianism became the new state religion of China, replacing Taoism. The religion was headed by Zhu Xi (1120-1200), who focused on the central conception that human nature was moral, rational, and essentially good. He combatted Buddhism's dismissal of wordly affairs and said that moral and social responsibility was the focus of a person's life; the difference between Neo-Confucianism and Confucianism was that neo-Conficans believed that anyone could become a sage in "universal sagehood" instead of just kings and politicians. The religion became the main religion of the Song as well as the Choson Empire of Korea, and it replaced Buddhism and Taoism in China.